President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez. Photo: Wilmer Errades.
The Venezuelan National Assembly (AN) has approved the call for a consultative referendum in order for the Venezuelan people to make the judgement themselves on Venezuela’s rights regarding the Essequibo territories.
During his participation in the debate this Thursday, September 21, for the approval of a consultation “in repudiation of the insolent declarations of the US State Department, in flagrant aggression about the sacred rights of Venezuela over its Essequibo territory,” the president of the AN, Jorge Rodríguez, highlighted the fact that this popular referendum is in accordance with the provisions of Articles 71 and 79 of the National Constitution.
“To call for a great national consultation through a Consultative Referendum so that the people of Venezuela—by means of a direct and anonymous vote—can make the decision and reinforce the inalienable rights of Venezuela and its people over the territory of the Essequibo and its ratification by history and by right,” proposed Rodríguez, “is an indissoluble part of the sacred soil of the homeland.”
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He noted that with this action, the Venezuelan people will demonstrate and reiterate before the US empire its commitment to the defense of the Essequibo, in defiance of the US pretensions that violate the integrity of Venezuela’s national territory.
Rodríguez further criticized the right-wing delegation that claimed to represent Venezuela which participated at the dialogue table in México for having signed an agreement in support of Venezuela’s right over the Essequibo, and now, “paying attention to their imperialist bosses, they are trying to disassociate themselves from this document,” he highlighted.
“This fascist right wing cannot do anything if it does not receive the order from the US,” he pointed out. “You sectors of the PU (Unitary Platform) at some point will have to learn to respect your own name, your own heritage.”
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Rodríguez continued to invoke the patriotic feeling of all Venezuelan citizens, “to defend this sacred territory that they are trying to take away from us.”
“The Essequibo is Venezuelan,” he emphasized. “When one says that the Essequibo is Venezuelan, one has to say it because it hurts [when they try to take it] like it would hurt if it were a child. When one says that the sun of Venezuela rises from the Essequibo, one has to say it with conviction, because one would even be willing to give one’s life to defend a territory that belongs to the children of Venezuela.”
(Últimas Noticias) by Gustavo Rangel
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/ECS/AU
